Political Dissent

Latest Articles

Boston film group protests arrest of Iranian director

Power of cinema?
At the Montreal Film Festival last summer, I had the pleasure of interviewing the Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was serving as president of the international jury.
By PETER KEOUGH | March 24, 2010

Photos: March on the RNC

Protesters rallied in St. Paul
Protesters rallied in St. Paul
By KATHY CHAPMAN | September 08, 2008

The dictator slayer

East Boston's Gene Sharp is soft-spoken, but he makes bad guys from Caracas to Beijing cringe
According to some people — including at least one sitting head of state — East Boston’s Gene Sharp is a dangerous dude.
By ADAM REILLY | December 05, 2007

Aesthetic genius

Why can’t more writers be smart enough to be beautiful, handsome, or at least cute
When I saw Marisha Pessl in the New York Times Style Section, meticulously posed on an antique chair wearing a pair of high heels and a coy smile, I cringed.
By SHARON STEEL | August 30, 2007

Can the Wobblies deliver?

The long-dormant IWW raises its profile in Rhode Island
A sense of taking it to the Man was in the air as some 200-plus supporters of Alexandra Svoboda rallied last Sunday afternoon.
By IAN DONNIS | August 29, 2007

Kennebunkport protest expected to draw around 5000

Protest round-up
Cindy Sheehan seems unable to stay away from the peace movement that she publicly cut ties with just over two months ago.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 22, 2007

How high can Gordon Fox go?

The progressive practices a balancing act in the socially conservative RI legislature
Although House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox considers himself a Red Sox fan, he hopes the Yankees win the World Series this year.
By IAN DONNIS | May 09, 2007

The song remains the same

Did last weekend’s march on Washington mark a new surge in street activism or the waning of an old-school protest style?
At one point early on in last weekend’s anti-war rally in Washington, DC, a speaker instructed the crowd, which was facing en masse toward the Capitol Building, to turn around and look in the other direction — toward the White House, the State Department, the Justice Department, and the Pentagon — and then to turn back around. Slideshow: Images from the January 27th march on Washington, DC. Photos by Matthew Craig
By DEIRDRE FULTON | January 31, 2007

Carcieri’s challenges

The governor faces a tougher political landscape in his second term
As Governor Donald L. Carcieri celebrated his 64th birthday on December 16, he could take satisfaction in any number of things.
By IAN DONNIS | December 27, 2006

Import only

The Pipettes bring on the pop
Whether or not the Pipettes ever make good on the flabbergasting confidence and effrontery of their debut, We Are the Pipettes (an import on Memphis Industries), they’ve already earned themselves a dissident footnote in the history of girl-group pop.
By CHARLES TAYLOR | November 28, 2006

Off the press!

My life and good times in alternative journalism
I can write the alternative press’s history — or one passably passionate version of it — because the institution’s trajectory matches my own.
By CLIF GARBODEN | November 15, 2006

Peace movement renews activism in support of withdrawal

Iraq
In perhaps the greatest critique of the war in Iraq, US intelligence agencies — confirming what many critics have recognized for some time — say that the conflict is increasing the threat of anti-American terrorism.
By IAN DONNIS | September 27, 2006

Prisoners of politics

After organizing an exhibit to spark debate, USM closes it when the talk gets too tough
The giant sucking sound that all of Southern Maine heard coming from Forest Avenue last week was not some accidental draining of a huge milk tank at Oakhurst Dairy, but the integrity and independence of Maine’s largest public university going down the toilet. Slideshow: Thomas Manning's exhibit at the University of Southern Maine Brut portraiture: Inmate Manning's art part of outsider tradition. By Ian Paige
By RICK WORMWOOD | September 14, 2006

Zombie march

The undead descend on Cambridge
A slideshow of the April 29 Zombie March
By JAMIE FAIRSTONE | May 01, 2006

Little Red ’Net

The battle for Internet freedom will not end with China
February 15 was a squirmy day for officials at Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco.
By MARK JURKOWITZ | March 10, 2006

Caprios on the rise

Frank and David Caprio could challenge the Lynches as Rhode Island’s leading political family
Like professional athletes employing a well-worn phrase — the familiar expression about focusing on the task at hand and not looking too far ahead — brothers Frank T. Caprio and David A. Caprio strike the same muted tone in separately discussing their respective futures in public life.
By IAN DONNIS | March 02, 2006